The Tradition Continues,...

Wednesday evening, we were scheduled to attend an education conference at Mohammed V University in Rabat.  My partner teacher, Todd, made a nice presentation about how he approaches the teaching of Algebra in his classroom.  Knocked it outta tha park!

Tea break was approaching and a student at the university had just presented about his understanding of competency-based learning and stated we are in an information-based society so we have to get information to our students.  The floor was opened for questions and comments.  I pressed the button on the microphone in front of me at the end of the long table on my side of the room.  

This conference room had a very nice u-shaped conference table arrangement and there was a nice projector with a big projection screen on the wall furthest from the speaker.  There were horizontal air conditioning units on each end of the room near what must have been a 20 foot ceiling.  The walls were lined with cork.  There was wiring showing working its way out of a hole in the cork in the corner of the room opposite me and some conduits out in the open air.

It had been enjoyable where I was sitting because the weather in Rabat was mild and my seat was facing east.  I know this because the wide door to the conference hall was open and I could feel the warm late afternoon sun on my back, alternating with the sensation of a pleasant 65 degree breeze.  It was the best seat in the house.

The light on the microphone turned red and I asked my question, adding some comments supporting the last speaker.  "You mentioned we are in an information-based society", I began.  "Are you familiar with a book by Daniel Pink entitled A Whole New Mind?"  I listed Pink's credentials to be speaking on the topic of the future, economics and human interactions.  I went on, to paraphrase:  In it, Pink asserts we are now in a conceptual society in which the abundance of goods, globally, has brought us to a place in which the information itself is plentiful and that due to current technologies, the conceptual learners are being prepared for the future in which they will have jobs that don't exist yet using tools that haven't been invented yet.  Have you thought about how student-guided study can allow students to learn the key concepts about our subject material and develop the critical thinking skills necessary to be successful in a future like that?

I then listened attentively to his response.  The student said he wasn't familiar with Pink's work.  He reiterated the idea the information, which I had mentioned is plentiful for anyone holding a smart phone, is still king and that's what needs to be taught.  "Thank you!" I said.

And that's when I learned something about the tradition of the Moroccan education system.  A gentleman who wasn't sitting anywhere near the best seat in the house and whom I could not see from my vantage point began to teach us all about the "French System" of educating students.  He insisted the French system was "the best" and didn't understand why Moroccan educators wanted to adopt the American approach to learning.  He continued to say students could not and should not be allowed to drive their own learning (Remember the cell phones?).  Everyone listened as his rant went on.

"Every student in Morocco receives a free education from youth through college" he droned on with his British accent.  His breathing labored and it was apparent someone had struck a nerve with the man.  "Teachers in America run up huge debts for their education, which they can not pay.  When they can not pay their loans back, they are sent to jail!"  That's when I leaned over and softly told the teacher next to me, "When I graduated with my undergrad degree, I didn't owe anyone anything for college".  Can't blame the guy for being passionate about his cause but I still don't think the French way is the only way!

He finished his diatribe, coming off much like the last of a dying breed, going "into that good night" although not quietly.  Tea break!  I eased over to a few of the members of my travel cohort and said "I wasn't trying to dismantle the entire Moroccan education system with one comment."  They assured me it wasn't my speech which sent the French education proponent into his soliloquy.  I said, "Yeah.  That guy had an ax to grind a long time before I got here!"

Not sure if he returned to the meetings after the tea break but this event began to unlock my understanding of Moroccan education.  The teacher does all the thinking in the classroom.  The students listen and repeat.  They take some tests and still, figuratively speaking, have a head full of rocks.  There is no room for the student being creative or learning outside the proverbial box.  Understood.

During the break, the student I had agreed with in the conference walked over and introduced himself.  "I'm Aziz and I would like to continue discussing this after you return home,...May I have your e-mail?"  "Yes, you may", I replied.  We talked for about 5 minutes and then some other students needed him elsewhere so we parted ways.  I began to see the potential for Moroccan education based on Aziz' desire to interact with teachers and learn all he could about teaching 21st century students.  It made me feel a lot better about the evening.

OinM